‘My body is not anyone else’s to comment on’: Sitar player Anoushka Shankar slams body-shaming trolls

Sitar player Anoushka Shankar on Friday slammed body-shaming trolls who had made unsolicited sexist comments on her photos and stories on Instagram, saying her body "is not anyone else's to comment on".

The musician daughter of sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar posted a series of her pictures with corresponding sexist statements about her clothes and body by "male strangers".

While one commented, "Indian classical music is sacred music. But the attire worn is not matching," another wrote, "You are blessed but no need to show cleavage."

The 12-times Grammy-nominated sitarist said that in one sense it is just a body and there is nothing special and in another "it is also a miracle" for having carried her through childbirth, child sexual abuse, four major surgeries, and addiction.

"This, here, is a body. In one sense, JUST a body (everyone has one!) and therefore nothing special. In another sense (like EVERY body!) it is also a miracle. When I think of what my body has carried me through I'm filled with awe and gratitude," she wrote on Instagram.

The 44-year-old added that her body has been a "complete, badass warrior" on her behalf.

"This body has birthed two children, survived child sexual abuse and several dangerous situations with men, healed through four major surgeries, suffered through polycystic ovarian syndrome with heavy period pain and migraines from the age of eleven, made it through addiction, held me through battles with undiagnosed neurodivergence (and all its accompanying confusion, stress and exhaustion), fought and come to terms with an autoimmune disorder," she said.

Shankar shared the rude comments that were left on a carousel and stories of photos of a holiday with her children.

As one commented, "This should have been a simple photo in her holiday outfit, not this sultry one," another said, "You should not do this in social media, think about your father's image please."

"I love my body, for everything it's been through and everything it is. I'm keenly aware of what a fight it has been to get here...The inherent arrogance that allows one human to think they have the right to pass judgement on someone in this way is astounding. In 2025 we should be so far beyond this kind of idiocy- there are bigger battles to fight, but I just couldn't accept this," she said.

The ‘Breathing Under Water’ artiste added that she hasn't got to this point "only to accept any banal, pathetic comments (male) strangers need to bring into my orbit".

"For the people in the back: My body is not anyone else's to comment on. My choices-all of them-are mine to make. To anyone else who receives these kinds of comments, either in public or in private, I see you, and I'm with you. It's not your shame to carry, it's theirs," Shankar added.